


Caring For a Gladiator

by drQuinzel



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance, humanxmech relationship, knock out being the bestest friend ever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 05:23:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7495527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drQuinzel/pseuds/drQuinzel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keira Grayson loved races and fixing up cars. Knock Out decides to bring her back to the Nemesis to help bring back Megatron. Being kidnapped didn't bother her as much as it should've, especially when she got to see the big M himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I decided to import from my fanfiction account.

A/N: The start of this story takes place some time in season 1.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers… *sighs* OC is mine though

* * *

It was another night when Keira Grayson was thankful that her uncle was out of town because that meant she was able to stay out even later for those nightly street races she enjoyed. At first it was just another way for her to earn money by repairing the cars that might have gotten wrecked since a lot of those racers were either in high school or college and they'd prefer not to have to explain to their parents how the cars got trashed. So the 22 year-old would fix them before they all went home, for a price of course.

And now she's actually having fun watching the races. But then again she'd been fascinated with vehicles ever since she first helped her uncle work on that weird looking engine he brought home one day while she was a child.

The chill she felt on her skin shook her out of her thoughts and back to reality. ' _I should really stop forgetting to bring my jacket'_ she thought while hugging herself and trying to ward the cold away. But despite the fact that she was freezing, she loved the atmosphere of the outskirts of Jasper, Nevada, especially at night, seeing the stars so clearly; the only thing missing that night was a full moon. Then she noticed one of the cars zoom past her, blowing even more cold air to her face, and knew the race was over.

Once again, that mysterious red sportscar had won. And without a single scratch on the car, too.

The people started cheering but as expected, the racer didn't even leave his car, just stopped in the middle of the road and revved up the engine for all to hear. Keira waited for the other racers to make it back and frowned when none of them needed repairs. Of course it was great none of them were hurt or anything, but that just meant she wouldn't be earning anything from that race.

"Hey! Keira!" said girl turned around and spotted that high school boy Vince walking up to her.

"Vince, don't you have to study for an exam or something?" she joked.

Vince waved her off. "Whatever, did you see? I almost got him that time. Sure, I came in second again, but I was so close to winning!" he whined. When Keira didn't reply, he continued.

"And look at him-" Vince pointed to the sports car currently driving off as the crowd parted. "Not even stopping to wave to his fans. Figured that guy's a jerk."

Keira refrained from rolling her eyes. _Takes one to know one._ The only reason Vince was even talking to her was that she was the only one who tolerated his attitude; she _had_ to, since Vince was the one who got his car wrecked the most and she'd hate to lose her best customer.

"Glad you got that off your chest?" she asked instead once Vince was done ranting.

Vince mumbled. "Yeah kinda." Then his eyes brightened. "I didn't trash my car this time."

"I know. Great job." If Vince caught the sarcasm in Keira's voice, he didn't say anything about it.

"Well then, since my ride's fine, guess I should be heading home. Be seein' ya."

"Uh-huh." Keira said as she watched him get back into his car and drive back into town along with the others.

Keira was the last to leave, since she still had to pack up some stuff like the tool kit she brought along. ' _Which was useless tonight!_ ' she thought. Then, she made her way to her own car, her uncle's old grey pick-up truck she received for her 18th birthday. Keira placed the tool kit in the backseat, sat herself in the driver's seat and turned the ignition on.

But nothing happened.

Keira's eyes widened. _No not now. No please._ She thought as she tried turning the key a few more times. She eventually gave up, leaned back into her chair, then groaned.

"CRAP! Really? You wait until I'm left alone in the middle of the night to not work?" She yelled before getting out of her car and opening the hood to see what was wrong.

But everything was fine. Well, at least everything _looked_ fine to her. Keira hugged herself as she felt another chill, and then sighed. _Fantastic, I'm gonna have to walk home and call a tow truck in the morning._ It wasn't even the fact that the way back would take about 30 minutes, it was because it was freezing cold that made the situation more difficult. Again, she cursed herself for not bringing her jacket and being forced to move in only leggings and a light sweater.

She decided to leave the tool kit behind then locked the car doors before she began her walk home.

Thankful that she at least wore sneakers so that dust wouldn't get to her feet, she listened to the sound of her footsteps, trying to keep her mind off of the cold. Though the chilly air was completely forgotten when Keira heard something behind her.

It sounded like an engine revving and that brought a smile to her face thinking that maybe the stupid truck finally decided to take pity on her. But when she turned around, she instantly frowned.

"Oh, it's just you." She said to the driver of the sportscar. Then, she had an idea and the smile came back. "Hey, mind giving me a lift? Something's wrong with my car and-"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence as the car in front of her started to change shape. Keira could see gears turning and the more the car-or whatever it really was-changed, the more she had to look up as finally, there was a very tall metal being in front of her.

"There's nothing wrong with your pathetic excuse for a vehicle, I just released a small EMP blast on it and it's basically useless for the time being." The giant no-longer-a-car thing said, then tapped the side of his head. "I have her with me. No other humans and no Autobots around as well; it's safe to open a groundbridge."

_Auto-whats?_

The giant red no-longer-a-car thing said then dropped his hand back to his side and turned to look at Keira. He-Keira was going to assume 'it' was a 'he'- at least seemed to have human looking features, like the fact that he had two legs, two arms, and a head. The giant retained the colors when he was still a car, with majority of his face being white while his eyes were a deep dark red with lighter red circles acting as what she assumed were his irises.

She also noticed that he had claws, and gulped.

"Done staring?" he asked her, arms crossed.

Keira blinked rapidly, opened her mouth a few times then finally spoke. She wanted to ask what he was, or what exactly he was planning to do to her but she was nervous and freezing, her brain wasn't really functioning that well so instead she asked,

"You're the one who broke my car?"

She could've sworn he just rolled his eyes. "Not broken, just useless for now." Then he smirked. "Though I doubt you'll be using it anytime soon."

Keira cocked an eyebrow but before she could ask the giant what he meant by that, a green swirling vortex appeared behind him. She instinctively took a step back, minding not to fall flat on her butt when she felt her knees start to shake. Whether from the cold or the presence of this… robot, she wasn't sure.

Said robot looked at the vortex, then back at her. "Well? Go on."

"Go where? Through _that_?" she asked.

"Humans… can't understand even the most basic orders." He shrugged then smirked once more. "All right then, I _tried_ the peaceful way but now you leave me no choice…" then his right arm turned into a very sharp looking buzzsaw.

Keira's eyes widened as he got closer, hugging herself even tighter. "Move now before I am forced to make you my first human test subject."

Taking his warning seriously and not finding any way to escape, she complied and slowly made her way to the vortex while making sure to keep her distance from the buzzsaw.

"Hmph. That's more like it." He said as he changed his arm back to normal and followed Keira.

As Keira stepped into the vortex, she no longer felt the desert's sand under her shoes. These were her last thoughts before a blinding white light caused her to close her eyes and next thing she knew, she was no longer walking along the outskirts of Jasper.

* * *

The harsh cold was gone and Keira dropped her arms to her sides. Once she felt that the light had dimmed, Keira opened her eyes, blinked a few times and looked at her surroundings; a really huge area, with monitors flashing different things she didn't understand. There were also other metal giants, purple ones that looked identical to one another, standing by the corners of the room as if they were guards. And there was one who looked different from all the rest, standing in the middle of the room and in front of the biggest monitor. ' _They really like the color purple though'_ she thought.

She could still hear the humming of the vortex and the thud of huge footsteps behind her. No doubt her kidnapper had arrived as well.

Then the humming stopped.

"What? No 'welcome back and good job with your mission Knock Out?'" the red giant announced.

The robot in the middle of the room turned to them and pointed at Keira. Knock Out glanced from visor-bot to her. "Yeah, this is her. I've seen what she can do, she'll get the job done, or at least help me move faster."

Keira tilted her head and decided to break her silence. "What job?" she addressed to the both of them.

It was Knock Out who spoke. "You're just full of questions, aren't you?"

"It's been a crazy night and I expect some answers." It was out before she could stop herself.

The robot smirked. "Finally dropped the 'too terrified to talk back' act, I see. You'll get your answers soon enough, fleshling." Then he turned to visor-bot before Keira could say something else.

"Soundwave, where's our _dear_ Commander Starscream? Practicing another big speech in his quarters?"

Instead of speaking, Soundwave's visor flickered to show a video of more of those guard bots and a very slim grey-colored one in what looked like a mine with crystals on the walls.

Knock Out snorted. "Probably there to hide some Energon for himself, no doubt."

Once he stopped the video, Soundwave pointed again to Keira then at the huge door at one end of the room, it seemed to be the only one as well since the other end had a glass window showing the starry night outside; and that's when Keira realized, as she looked through the glass, that she was now up in the air with a bunch of robots who could crush her at any moment. ' _Or slice me in half'_ she thought as she recalled Knock Out's buzzsaw then she involuntarily shivered.

But Keira stopped that train of thought when Knock Out sighed. "Yes, yes, I'll get on that right away. Come along, fleshling." He said as he started walking away.

Keira didn't follow him though. "What about my answers?"

"Walk with me and you'll get them." He replied without looking back.

Keira sighed. She looked back at Soundwave who was already back to observing the monitor. He didn't seem like the talkative type so she wouldn't get anything from him. Knock Out at least responded to her. That's when she made her decision to follow the sportscar to wherever he was going.

* * *

Since he was bigger than her, it only took Knock Out one stride to already be a few steps away from Keira. Which made her have to jog a bit to catch up with him.

"Can you at least slow down?" she asked.

"You're asking the wrong mech to slow down." he replied.

"Then at least carry me to wherever you're going."

Knock Out didn't even look at her as they walked. "And risk you dirtying my finish? You're practically covered with dust."

She decided to give up on that and change the topic as they continued down the long corridor. "Maybe you can answer some of my questions now?"

There was a pause before Knock Out spoke again. "If it will shut you up, fine. However it also depends on what you ask."

Keira shrugged. "All right then. Who are you?"

"Knock Out. Best doctor in all of Cybertron, aligned with the Decepticons."

She suppressed a snarl. There were too many terms and names she couldn't recognize and she feared asking Knock Out about all of them for he might get impatient and stop talking to her, or worse…

So Keira tried asking what she thought were more important. "Knock Out… and I'm guessing everyone here is a Desi- deca-"

"Decepticons." He said slowly, as if speaking to a child. "And yes."

"Decepticons, got it. And you know who I am?"

"Keira Grayson of Jasper, Nevada. You're the mechanic who goes to street races and fixes cars there." Knock Out replied as they turned right at an intersection to another hallway.

Keira raised an eyebrow. "You've been spying on me?"

The robot scoffed. "Hardly, you're there every time I race. I hear the other humans talk about you. And, I've seen what you can do. Not bad for a human, I suppose."

"What's that supposed to mean? Does that have something to do with why I'm here?"

Keira could see a door at the end of the hallway. Knock Out stopped in front of it, which made Keira stop as well.

She saw him smirk as he finally turned to look at her. "That's exactly it. You see, there's a limit to what these fine servos of mine can do." He said while admiring his hands- or rather his servos, as he called them.

He continued speaking when he crossed his arms. "Which means I need help from time to time. Especially with an operation as delicate as this." Knock out turned to look at the still closed door.

Keira tried piecing everything together. "So, you need me because I'm a mechanic and I'm here to what, assist you in this 'operation'?"

"Aren't you the clever one?" he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Keira resisted the urge to roll her eyes as he spoke again.

"But yes, that's basically it."

She shrugged. "Ok, let's get to it then. Need me to repair one of your engines?"

He shook his head and grinned. "I'm a _doctor_ , remember? And what do doctors do?"

Knock Out didn't wait for an answer as he walked a few more steps, allowing the door to open.

Only to reveal a huge robot lying on a metal slab with tubes all over his body. She saw the slow rise and fall of his chest, which seemed to be the only thing convincing her that he was still alive.

Keira hesitantly stepped inside the room, not taking her eyes off of the robot lying down. She was so focused on him that she barely heard Knock Out speak.

"We treat patients. Like this big guy in front of you; the leader of the Decepticons himself, Megatron."


	2. Chapter 2

"So again, optics are eyes, servos are hands and aft is…"

Keira was only half-listening to what Knock Out was telling her, but she got the important bits…well, she _assumed_ that they were important, it was hard to tell with Knock Out speaking as if he'd rather be doing anything but teaching her in the med bay with an unconscious giant in the same room.

 _Speaking of which_ …

While Knock Out was busy pointing out some other Cybertronian body part on his monitor, Keira stole another glance at the sleeping mech- _which is a male Cybertronian while femme is a female Cybertronian_ , she recalled smugly- who, for the eighth time she had checked him, was still in his coma-like state, his breathing shallow. Keira couldn't help but wonder what exactly happened to the big guy for him to end up like that.

She took note of his huge frame. He was larger than any of the others she had encountered on the _Nemesis_ – _the Decepticon warship_ , she recalled again – so far. But, Knock Out did mention that he was their leader after all. As she continued to examine her patient, she almost didn't hear Knock Out call her attention.

"Ahem! I'd appreciate it if the human were to listen to the expert." The sportscar said.

Startled, Keira looked away from Megatron and back to Knock Out. "Sorry, I was just, you know, getting to know who I'll be working on." she said lamely.

Knock Out rolled his optics. "Right, of course you were. Well I'm sure that with what I've taught you, you're more than ready to start operating on him. Soon, you might be able to do repairs on every Vehicon that walks through the door."

Keira decided to ignore his gibe, fearing what he'll do if she said something snarky back. Instead, she decided to play safe and satisfy her curiosity by asking, "What happened to him exactly?"

Knock Out crossed his arms and leaned back on his console. "I wasn't here when the… incident happened. All I know is that he opened a space bridge, it worked and almost brought forth a whole army of reanimated Cybertronians. However, there was a huge explosion and the space bridge was destroyed just before they made it out. Starscream found our illustrious leader drifting in space in his current condition and brought him back."

_Wait what?_

"He survived an _explosion_? In space?" she asked disbelievingly.

She was surprised when he let out a sound that she thought was a chuckle. "It does seem a bit farfetched, doesn't it? But then again, the big M has survived far worse, or at least, that's what I've heard."

"And, you think that he can still be you know, fixed or whatever?"

Knock Out shrugged, checking Megatron's vitals on the monitor. "Maybe, maybe not. That's why we have to operate on him now don't we?"

As the doctor passed by her and made his way to Megatron, Keira followed, not sure herself if the Decepticon leader could be repaired. To her it seemed as if the tubes were the only things keeping him alive, as if by separating the connection of just one would end it all.

"Well then, now that we're done learning the basics, it's time for you to get some actual work done." Knock Out said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Keira gulped. "You want me to work on him _now_?"

"I'll only let you _examine_ him close-up; think of it as research. Besides, I wouldn't let you do anything that would cause permanent damage to him, Soundwave'll have my head."

Then Knock Out paused, as if he wasn't sure what to do next.

"What is it?" Keira asked.

"In order to examine him, you'll need to get a bit closer."

She shrugged, confused. "So? Why don't you carry me?"

"And touch you?! No, I don't think so."

"You expect me to climb up, then?" Keira looked for a way up, but the bed-rather berth- was too high and she doubted if Knock Out would let her climb up the console.

Thankfully Knock Out seemed to realize this too and, with a heavy sigh, he picked her up, holding her as far away form the rest of his body as possible.

She let out a small yelp when she was picked up but didn't say anything more. Then her teacher placed her to the right of the tube attached to Megatron's chest. She steadied herself, placing her hand on the tube for balance.

She felt herself move with the rise and fall of his chest as he cycled air. She was no doctor, but it seemed slow even for someone who wasn't human.

"Now then, as I've said before, you're here because I can't examine the extent of his injuries any further without causing more damage than necessary." Knock Out said.

Keira looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm here because I'm smaller than you, I get it."

He smirked. "Hmph, well, before you start, familiarize yourself. Get to know which injury is which." He sighed before continuing, "And for Primus' sake do not touch the big cable like things keeping him alive… that's the life support if you still don't-"

"I got it." she restrained herself from waving him off and saying anything further.

"Good, I'd hate to end this splendid partnership so soon. All right, if you don't have anymore questions, let's get started."

* * *

At some point while Keira was looking over Megatron's right arm, minding the fusion cannon, Knock Out had left the medbay saying that he had better things to do.

Keira realized it was nighttime and he probably had another street race to win.

And that was how she ended up alone with no one but the comatose Decepticon leader for company.

Her teacher hadn't left her much to do. All he said was, 'don't be stupid, don't leave the med bay and don't do anything that will make me cut you in half.'

Simple enough and easy to remember.

She had already seen much of his injuries by then, the scratches, the dents, and his armor wasn't as shiny as Knock Out's was; though she could still see her reflection; silly as it was, she took this time to check her hazelnut brown hair and tied it up into a ponytail.

Keira paused then, going over all her work, rather her 'research'. All that was left really was Megatron's faceplate and helm.

 _Knock Out didn't say I couldn't check the head_ , Keira mused as she climbed up from his right arm and up to his chest then she stopped just before his neck, not wanting to actually step all over his faceplate.

She sat down as she observed him, specifically all the scratches- _scars probably –_ he had. Keira wondered where he got them from; he must've been in a lot of battles, or whatever they called it, to get all those.

Then she thought about his optics, if they were anything like Knock Out's, if they were the same shade of red or if they were a different color altogether.

All in all, she was curious, fascinated even, with him. She had been taken – _kidnapped_ – by a sportscar that had probably been stalking her, just to fix him up.

"You must be a really awesome guy if they're going through all this trouble to get you back online." she said out loud, smiling. Can't people in comas sometimes hear others talking to them?

As expected, she didn't get a reply.

Instead, all she heard was the beeping of the machine next to him and the occasional hissing sounds coming from the life support system.

But for some reason, she continued talking anyway.

"So, I'm Keira, Keira Grayson. I'm here to fix you or else I think your doctor's going to dissect me or something." She knitted her eyebrows before adding, "then again, he's probably going to do that even if you're back on your feet...or whatever feet are called."

She shifted to sit more comfortably, she didn't think Knock Out would be coming back anytime soon. "And you're Megatron, apparently you're the leader of the Decepticons. Plus, you must be a total badass to survive that space bridge explosion."

Silence.

_I'm bored, I can't help but talk to the only other person in the room, even if he can't say anything back._

Feeling a little awkward, she coughed. "You mind if I ask you a few questions? You don't have to answer them right away." she laughed. "Ok I'm sorry, I'm sorry. First question, were you anything before you became the Decepticon leader? Like, did you have a job or something?"

Keira let a few moments pass before speaking again. "Next, what about-"

"Are you actually _talking_ to him?"

Keira jumped at the voice, turning around and seeing Knock Out smirking as he approached her.

The sportscar chuckled before he spoke. "May I ask why?"

"Why what?" she asked innocently.

"I have a buzzsaw remember?"

"…Ok, yeah I was talking to him. I got bored." she admitted.

Knock Out muttered 'fleshlings' under his breath before going to his monitor. Keira turned to face him. "Where'd you go anyway? Went off to find another street race?"

He kept his optics on the monitor in front of him. "Hmm, interesting, brain wave activity has spiked…"

Then he realized Keira had asked him a question and turned to her. "What? Oh, that's none of your business… Plus Starscream tracked me down when he checked the ground bridge logs."

Knock Out snapped his claws. "Which reminds me, the commander himself will be checking up on the patient soon. And I have one question for you, human." He took out some kind of tool before asking,

"How good are you at _buffing_?"

* * *

It was Kaon, and yet it wasn't.

Cybertron was restored, the Autobots were destroyed and yet, something was off. But what was it?

"Megatron, your reign of tyranny ends now."

The warlord shook his head, such questions could be answered later. For now…

"Why you continue to fight when your forces are defeated, I will never understand, Prime."

"One shall stand, and one shall fall."

Megatron took his blade out, and just as he expected, Prime fell quickly, while he came out with not even a single scratch on his armor.

He retracted his blade, and stared out at to take in his planet. And he grinned.

 _Everything is as it should be_.

' _Kei…ra Grrr…s…n'_

Megatron raised an optic ridge. "What?"

' _I'm…fix...something._ '

The tyrant looked around, searching for the source of the voice. All he could tell was the voice was female. "Who are you?" he snarled.

' _Kei…ra… fix…something. You're Me…gatron… badass.'_

Megatron paused, taking the words in. It, rather she, had said 'fix'. Perhaps this was what would help him figure out what was off. That, and he wanted to find out what a badass was.

"Very well, I'll play along for now."

He swore he heard the voice laugh. ' _Answer…questions_. _Anything before… Decepticon leader…?'_

 _What was I before the Decepticons?_ "I was a gladiator, I've fought and _won_ many battles while in the pits of Kaon."

' _You must be a really awesome guy_.'

Megatron smirked. "Anything else?"

' _Space_ '

_Space?_

Then he froze. He remembered battling Prime, he remembered Prime was there to stop him from… something

Megatron growled, annoyed that he couldn't remember anything more. "What are you not telling me, voice?"

' _I'm_ _sorry, I'm sorry_.'

He let out a long sigh. If he wanted answers, he would have to be patient with this… whatever she was.

"Megatron! I will not allow Cybertron to fall under your rule."

The Decepticon leader warmed up his fusion cannon. At least he would be kept entertained.


	3. Chapter 3

Keira stared at the object in Knock Out's hand.

"A buffer?" she asked, not sure if he was playing with her again.

"That's right. And I even went back to that pathetic truck of yours to get one for you... You'll need a new door by the way." Knock Out said as he produced something from what Keira knew as _subspace_. And indeed, it was her toolkit, she was sure since it had her initials on it.

Keira would've thought it was sweet for him to get it…

…If he didn't just wreck her truck in the process. She wanted to say something back, but thought against it, thinking he'd just say something like, ' _It looked wrecked to begin with_ ' or ' _I think I made it look even better actually_.'

Her teacher tossed it to her and she caught it with an 'oomph', snapping out of her thoughts. She took her buffer out and dropped the toolkit onto the floor, making sure it landed safely from that height since she was still currently standing on Megatron.

"Good, now, get to work." Knock Out said, turning back to his monitor.

… _What?_

"Wait, you do realize that I'm a human right?" she asked, not sure if she heard him right.

"Uh-huh."

"And that my buffer is designed for _humans_ to use."

"That's why I got it for you, yes." he replied, still focused on his work.

"And you expect me to use this _tiny buffer_ ," she shook said tool in her hand, "on _that_ _giant_ robot?" she gestured to Megatron with the hand holding the buffer.

Knock Out sighed as he shook his head. "Sometimes it amazes me how you fleshlings have survived this long. And yes, I expect you to do just that. Or at least until Starscream's done checking in on the patient."

Keira crossed her arms. "Ok, hold on. There's that name again, 'Starscream'. He's the one Soundwave showed on his… visor thing right? Who is he anyway?"

Knock Out paused, as if considering what to say. Then he turned around to face Keira. "I'll answer you as long as you start buffing."

She nodded. "Fair enough." She turned her tool on, and started shining Megatron's right shoulder.

Satisfied to finally get her to do something, Knock Out fulfilled his part of the deal. "Now as for your question, Starscream is Megatron's second-in-command, answers to no one but the big M himself."

"Does he run things here now that Megatron's… unwell?" she asked, choosing her words carefully as she continued buffing.

Knock Out shrugged. "More or less."

"He must want Megatron back then, if he's coming here to check up on him and considering that you mentioned it was Starscream who found Megatron in the first place." Keira mused

And by the time she finished speaking, her teacher was laughing… _hard_.

This made her nervous. "Did I say something wrong?"

Knock Out raised a servo to her, gesturing for her to wait until he was done laughing about whatever it was that he found funny.

He chuckled twice more before finally calming down. "You have a sense of humor, you know that, fleshling?"

"Maybe I'd agree with you if you told me what was so funny."

He shook his head, a smirk on his faceplate. "Starscream would want nothing more than for Megatron to finally 'be one with the Allspark.'" he said, air quoting the last part.

"You mean Starscream wants Megatron-"

"Terminated, offlined, scrapped, or in human terms, _dead_." Knock out counted off each one with his claws.

_Ah._

She couldn't help but think of Mufasa and Scar from the _Lion King_. She giggled at this.

Knock Out smirked. "I assume you laughed because you get it now?"

"No, I mean, I get it, yeah but that's not why I was laughing. Let's just say their situation reminded me of a movie."

"Hmm, one of your species' modes of entertainment."

"Yeah, sure. You could probably watch some. I mean, there are drive-in theatres you could go to."

Knock Out waved her off. "I don't know if you've noticed but I have more important things to do. Now if we're done here, Starscream should come by anytime now. Try not to make him mad, I'd hate to clean up the mess."

Keira shivered at how Knock Out said it, like it was a common thing to happen. "He knows that there's a human aboard, right?"

"He does, but he doesn't actually care. And anything that'll help Megatron recover is reason enough to hate you, and there's the fact about you being a fleshling. I can already tell you two are going to get along nicely."

Even though she knew Knock Out meant the last part of his sentence to be sarcastic, Keira hoped that he was still right.

She paused to look at Megatron's faceplate, the warlord still deep in slumber. Keira lowered her voice. "It would be real swell if you decided to wake up right now, big guy."

* * *

For a moment, Keira thought that her hands would never stop shaking after having used the buffer for as long as she did. And she was only halfway done with Megatron's left shoulder.

As she was doing this, the medbay doors swished open, indicating that someone had just entered.

"And how is the patient doing today, doctor?" a voice asked.

Keira turned to see probably the thinnest robot she'd seen on the ship. He had wings on his back and that gave her an idea as to what he transformed into. On his chest was the Decepticon sigil Knock Out told her about, only it was red in color rather than the purple one her teacher said was common among them.

She shivered as she caught a glimpse of his claws; they looked… _sharper_ than those of Knock Out and Megatron.

_I wonder if he files them._

She giggled at this and froze as she realized her mistake. Luckily Knock Out was speaking at the same time.

"Same as every other time you've asked me, Commander Starscream."

Said 'bot growled. "How many times must I tell all of you!? It is LORD Starscream now."

Knock Out wasn't fazed by his outrage though and simply shrugged. "As long as my monitor registers life signs from Lord _Megatron_ ", Keira noticed Starscream flinch as the sportscar emphasized Megatron's name. "I don't think you'll be earning that title anytime soon."

Keira heard Starscream scowl once more before turning to Megatron…and her.

The Decepticon second-in-command narrowed his optics as he focused on her. "And _you_ must be Knock Out's human pet."

Not knowing if she should respond or not, she chose to simply nod.

Starscream chuckled. "What? You haven't taught it how to speak, doctor?"

Knock Out sighed. "Just tell him your name, that might make him go away."

"I'm Keira Grayson." she finally said, thankful that her voice didn't falter.

"See? That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Starscream asked, inching closer to her.

Keira had stopped buffing at this point, thinking that he'd probably vaporize her if she didn't pay much attention to him. She could already tell that he was one to adore the spotlight, as long as it was on him.

The seeker looked her up and down. "You never told me you got a _female_ , Knock Out."

The medic shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Perhaps. A female's hands, organic or not, are known to be more delicate. Delicate hands for a delicate operation; that is, if we were to even go through with the procedure."

Keira noticed Knock Out roll his optics as he stood behind the seeker. "Of course we are, that's why she's here."

Starscream eyed the buffer in her hand and looked back at her. " And I can already tell she's hard at work, dear doctor." Then he moved away, already making his way for the exit. "Keep it up, fleshling. We do want Megatron looking his best when we finally decide to hold his memorial." And with that, he left.

Keira let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"That went well." Knock Out deadpanned.

Keira scoffed, "What from _that_ went well?"

"He didn't kill you now, did he?"

Deciding that Knock Out made a good point, Keira let it go and turned her buffer back on.

Then a thought struck her. "Knock Out?"

Her teacher let out a sigh. "What?"

"About Starscream… were those high heels he-"

"We don't talk about that ever, do you understand? Not unless you want one of his claws scratching your perfect finish."

Keira tilted her head. "My what?"

"Oh, I mean, clawing your skin off." He stopped typing on his console and made his way to the door. "Anyways now that visiting hours are over, I need to go see to some other matters. I'll be back."

"And you expect me to stay here and keep buffing?"

Knock Out looked at her and paused. "I suppose you can stop. I don't want you shaking when I need you to do some actual work. Just stay here and don't touch anything."

Happy to follow that order, Keira turned her tool off and dropped it to floor. Then she shook her hands and rolled her shoulders. "Thanks."

She got a simple 'hmph' from his as a reply.

And just like that, she was left alone once again with the warlord.

_Which means…_

She plopped down to sit on his torso and smiled. "Hey there. Before I start, can I just say that your second-in-command, you know, Starscream? The one with the heels? Yeah I can already tell what a pain in the ass- or aft- he is. Anyways, feel like sharing anything now?"

* * *

Megatron had torn through two more Autobots before he heard that voice again, this time, no longer surprised.

_Hey there_

Once the Autobots had been vanquished, Megatron strode back to sit on his throne. "Ah, you've returned."

_Share… anything?_

The tyrant raised an optic ridge. "Anything?"

_Yeah_

He didn't feel like sharing much about his days as Megatronus, so he instead tried thinking back to what brought him to where he was now, Kaon.

But all he saw was space. Then he froze, suddenly remembering a blurred shape gliding above him.

"There was… someone there. Then when I… 'woke' up, I was here, and Cybertron was mine."

_Starscream_

"Starscream?" Megatron's clenched his servos into fists. He always seemed to do that when his SIC was mentioned.

_The one with the heels? Yeah._

He had to smirk at that. "What about my treacherous lieutenant is of importance?"

_Think… back_

Despite the fact that he was being ordered around, something he wasn't very fond of, he still did as he was told…

And was glad he did.

He remembered it clearly. He was floating in space, badly damaged, with debris surrounding him, and then he saw Starscream.

Megatron snarled as he remembered all what his soon-to-be-slagged subordinate had said to him. As the image of Starscream pulling the Dark Energon from his spark and kicking him away attacked his processor, the warlord snapped and fired a few stray shots from his fusion cannon.

"I should have known that pest was involved. Where is he?" He yelled upwards.

_Came… medba... Nemesis._

Reminding himself stay calm, the warlord sighed heavily and analyzed the situation. He was on Kaon and Starscream was on the Nemesis, no doubt busy declaring himself a king to the others. But what happened before and after Starscream's traitorous act?

"Why am I here and not back on the Nemesis? And what brought me to such a… weak state that I was not able to kill Starscream then and there?"

No reply.

And more shots were fired.

"Then answer me this, voice. How may I get back to the Nemesis?"

 _Wake_ -

* * *

"-Up. I said get up, fleshling."

Keira felt someone shake her. Blinking a few times, she felt something metal on her cheek. Then realized she had fallen asleep on Megatron's chest.

She sat up, rather abruptly and, with reluctance, dared to look at who had woken her up.

It came as a surprise to her when she wasn't greeted to the sight of the familiar white faceplate and red optics of Knock Out, but instead to an orange faceplate and yellow optics. And unlike Starscream, Knock Out, and even Soundwave, this one was bigger.

Without warning, the newcomer scooped her up into one servo and started walking.

Still drowsy from waking up so suddenly, Keira couldn't form any coherent sentences yet. "W-what? Who-"

"Relax, I'm not going to crush you under my foot or anything like that. Knock Out thought that you'd need some rest soon and told me to bring you to a berth. Judging by the state I found you in, the doc was right."

Keira could do nothing but stare at him as he continued speaking.

"Just what were you thinking, anyway? Falling asleep on _Megatron_?"

She did nothing but shrug, not knowing the answer herself. Well she did, she was tired and hadn't gotten any sleep since she was taken by Knock Out, and it was already late at night when that had happened.

Though she knew that what she did seemed rather… scandalous, she wasn't as bothered by it as she should have been. Even in his weakened state, Keira felt Megatron's intimidating aura, and something else.

She had felt…

Safe. As if no one could have harmed her while she was with him.

Like when Starscream was on his way. She had asked the tyrant to wake up and…

_What? What exactly did I expect him to do? Defend me?_

Not wanting to think more about someone who she hasn't even spoken to, or rather, had a real conversation with, she forced herself to sleep as she was carried away by the new big Decepticon.

As the two left the medbay, they failed to notice one of Megatron's servos twitch.


	4. Chapter 4

'Wake up' the voice had told him. And just like before, the voice said nothing more and once again, the Decepticon tyrant was left alone to ponder over her words…

And over when he started referring to the voice as a _her_.

Megatron sat on his throne on Kaon, or wherever he was exactly. He tightened his hold on one of the armrests, not liking how confusing his whole situation seemed. He never liked not being in control.

But he needed to stay calm if he were to analyze everything. And so Megatron did. He gathered everything he knew. From what the voice informed him, he knew there must have been some sort of incident that incapacitated him and Starscream had obviously taken advantage of it.

Then she told him to 'wake up'.

_Then I haven't gone offline. This place I'm in, it's-_

"-My mind." The warlord said aloud.

The grip on the armrest loosened. Megatron allowed himself to smirk, having been able to figure something out.

He now knew where he was, he knew all those Autobots he had defeated were illusions-much to his disappointment- and that he had to get up and find his traitorous second-in-command for his _failed_ assassination attempt.

"But how am I to return to the land of the conscious?" Megatron stood up from his throne and started pacing. "Now that I'm self-aware, my body should at least show the slightest movement and someone would have noticed; which only matters if my body has even been recovered."

He kept pacing. "But that treacherous Starscream has taken the Dark Energon from my spark, the one thing I need to escape this eternal slumber."

Megatron paused. "Which means someone must plunge another Dark Energon shard into my spark themselves."

The Decepticon leader looked up. "I've solved this enigma, voice. So tell me, what happens now?"

When he didn't get a reply, instead of firing a few more rounds from his fusion cannon like he did before, he continued speaking. "All right then, if you won't answer that, then tell me, who are you and what exactly is your role in all this?"

Megatron vaguely remembered that the voice had told him her name during their first 'conversation', but then again, it hadn't mattered to him at that time.

Once again, there was only silence.

The Decepticon leader understood that patience was the game, that he could do nothing but wait. But even he had his limits.

And as another illusion of Optimus Prime talking about 'freedom being the right of all sentient beings' appeared in front of him, Megatron had an unnerving thought,

That he needed whoever was the owner of the mysterious voice.

* * *

Keira slowly got up from her bed, or berth, as Breakdown, the Decepticon who carried her there in the first place, had called it. She couldn't remember much from her encounter with the new big Decepticon since she was too exhausted that time. All she knew was that Knock Out had basically ordered her to rest up.

And, as she sat up, it was then that she realized that she was sitting down on a human-sized bed; something that should be odd when in a warship with giant robots, right?

They must have gotten it for her, then. She briefly thought of asking Knock out as to how they acquired the bed but remembered what happened with her toolkit and decided not to, fearing the answer she might be given.

Keira looked around the room and noticed that it was mostly bland, with four metal walls, purple lights on top and a giant door on one end.

As she focused on said door, it had opened and revealed Decepticon she had most recently encountered, Breakdown.

He seemed startled at first, but quickly recovered. "Good, you're awake. Saves me some time. Knock Out wants you back in the medbay."

Keira approached the giant Decepticon. "Finally going through with the operation he's been talking about?"

"No, but something's happened. And well, you were the last one with Megatron so the doc thinks you might know a thing or two about it."

Keira tilted her head. "Why? What's happened?"

Without warning and much to Keira's surprise, Breakdown scooped her up onto his servo once more and walked out of Keira's quarters.

Breakdown took a few huge strides before answering Keira, who at that point thought she wouldn't have gotten a response from the huge mech.

"Megatron moved."

* * *

Once the medbay doors opened, Breakdown lowered his servo to let Keira down. Said female wasted no time in approaching a certain Decepticon leader.

She held her breath, quickly scanning him for any sort of movement. She was vaguely aware of Knock Out calling her name but she was too busy with her inspection.

_There_

It was subtle but Keira saw it. Megatron's left servo had twitched, albeit rather briefly. Satisfied, she sighed and turned to Knock Out, who had his arms crossed and was smirking at her.

"Are you done?"

"Yes, I am." Keira nodded, smiling.

The medic scoffed and approached Keira. "Do you know why this is happening?"

She knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "No, I don't."

Knock Out rolled his optics and glanced at the monitor. "I should've guessed as much."

"But he's moving now, right? Isn't that a good thing?"

"I suppose. Even his brain wave activity increased. I called you here because twice this has happened and only when you were around."

Keira paused, taking the information in. When she was done, she slowly nodded and spoke again. "So you think I have something to do with all this?"

Knock Out smirked. "Oh well done! Give yourself a prize for figuring it out."

Used to his sarcasm, Keira simply waited for him to add whatever _serious_ information he was going to say next.

"Tough crowd. Anyway, yes, fleshling, I had Breakdown bring you here because I thought you might know why this is happening. But, much to my disappointment, you don't, so I've done nothing but waste my time. You're dismissed."

Keira's eyes widened. By the time she found her voice, Breakdown had taken his place as Megatron's new buffer.

_He's not even doing it right._

"You want me to leave?" she asked, finally focusing on her teacher.

The medic pointed to his monitor. "My dear, if you can't tell, I have this new information with me and I still need to examine it. I mean, in a way, Megatron has responded to your very presence, the question is _why_?"

Keira could tell Knock Out meant why _you_?

Honestly, she wanted to know herself.

"I guess I can understand that. But don't you need me around for other things? Maybe I can help buff again."

Knock Out waved her off. "Don't bother, Breakdown's already on it and I don't want to be responsible for what happens if you get in his way. For sanitary purposes, you understand."

Again, she ignored his humor. "Then I'll be going back to my room- er, quarters."

"That wouldn't be the worst thing for you to do right now, yes."

Remembering her way back from the route Breakdown took, she made her way to the door to leave.

But she paused just as the doors swooshed open. She turned back to her teacher. "Wait, what about the operation you were talking about?"

To her surprise, when Knock Out spoke, it didn't have that sarcastic tone she was used to. Instead, it was serious, dull, and seemed _practiced_ even. She couldn't see his facial expression though since he was busy going through his tools on one of the tables.

"We might not have to operate anymore." Then his usual tone came back. "So, get out and I'll send for you when I need you again. I've ordered one of the Vehicons to look for some human food for you, it should be in your quarters by now."

She hadn't thought about food since she got on the _Nemesis_ ; now that someone had brought the topic of food up, she felt her stomach grumble.

Keira nodded, though she knew Knock Out didn't see it, and walked out of the medbay, turned right and-

Walked straight into another one of those bright green vortexes that brought her to the _Nemesis_ in the first place.

For a moment, her heart skipped a beat, fearing wherever she would be brought to. Once inside, she kept walking, and much to her surprise, she was back in her quarters on the _Nemesis_ ; she could tell as she saw the human-sized bed off to one side and the metal walls. She sighed out of relief. Knock Out and Breakdown probably thought she wouldn't be able to find her way back on her own.

But as she scanned the room even more, she realized she wasn't alone. By the door, Soundwave was there, staring at her, or at least, she assumed he did.

Not knowing what to do, she smiled and awkwardly waved at the silent Decepticon. "Hey, were you the one that brought me here?"

He nodded.

"I see."

Silence.

"…may I ask why?" Keira asked.

Soundwave lowered his helm a bit. Then Keira watched as his visor flickered to show a video of two other Decepticons she knew, Knock Out and Starscream.

* * *

_Knock Out had just entered the command center where Starscream was the only other occupant. The self-proclaimed new leader of the Decepticons turned when he heard the door open._

_"Ah, Knock Out. I had hoped to catch you out of the med-bay." the seeker said._

_Knock Out scoffed. "You mean catch me without the flesh creature"_

_Starscream waved him off. "Let's not make any false presumptions. Now then, what can you tell me about our master's condition?"_

_"Actually, though the big guy has shown no signs of movement other than cycling air, brain wave activity is higher than before."_

_The seeker did his best to hide a scowl. "Meaning?"_

_The medic shrugged. "Not sure yet, I'll have to examine it a little more. All I know is that it started once I brought the fleshling aboard. Who knows? Megatron might awaken in a few more Earth days."_

_Starscream leaned closer to the other Decepticon."Keep your voice down! Soundwave sees and hears everything. We must withhold this information from him if I am to keep my position as leader of the Decepticons."_

_Knock Out smirked. "A position that requires a second-in-command?"_

_Starscream mimicked the expression. "One must be willing to earn said post."_

_"I'll see what I can do, or rather_ not _do,_ Lord _Starscream."_

* * *

As Soundwave ended the video, Keira looked down, processing what she was just shown.

 _Knock Out's attitude makes sense now_.

She looked up at the Communications Officer and spoke. "Does anyone else know about this?"

Soundwave shook his head.

"So I'm the only one you've shown that video too?"

The Decepticon nodded.

Keira tilted her head in confusion, and not for the first time did she wonder, "Why me?"

Keira could tell that Soundwave wasn't the talkative type so she didn't expect him to answer. She only wanted to let out the question that had been on her mind for a while.

Which is why when Soundwave tilted his helm to play another video, she jumped back. Once she recovered, she leaned in closer to look at whatever Soundwave was planning to show her.

And he showed her clips; clips of her on Megatron's chassis as she talked to him. He even had footage of her giggling at things she was too embarrassed to remember now. The last one Soundwave presented to her was of her yawning, then slowly lying down on the tyrant's chest. That particular footage made Keira blush.

But Soundwave didn't end the feed there like she thought he would, since that was her last encounter alone with Megatro. Instead he continued on to when Breakdown carried her out of the med-bay. That's when he zoomed in on one of Megatron's servos twitching.

Then the video ended.

Keira spoke once Soundwave lifted his helm. "You've been observing me. And you don't think I'd want anything or any _one_ to harm Megatron. That's why you chose to tell me?"

He nodded.

"And just like Knock Out, you think that Megatron moving has something to do with me?"

Another nod.

"Well, as embarrassed as I am that you actually know about my… _conversations_ with your leader, you're right. I want Megatron back online as much as you do. But what can we do?"

This time, actual words came from Soundwave; but Keira was disappointed as she realized that it wasn't his voice, but one that reminded her of Starscream. "Dark Energon."

"Ok, where do we find this Dark Energon? Do we have some aboard?"

Keira heard the familiar humming of, what she remembered was called a ground bridge, behind her and knew that Soundwave had given her an answer. Keira turned around to enter, thinking that Soundwave would follow.

She thought that was the case until…

Soundwave stood up straighter, then Keira heard the already familiar voice of the Decepticon second-in-command fill the room.

"Soundwave, report to the medbay immediately, I believe any information involving our liege's current condition is of interest to you. If I don't see you there by the time I arrive, well, let's just say when I'm waiting ever so impatiently, sometimes… _accidents_ happen."

Once the transmission was done, Soundwave 'stared' at Keira, who in turn stared at him back.

What happened next made Keira stumble back. A part of Soundwave's torso came off and started flying. To Keira, it resembled some kind of bird. The robotic bird circled around her a few times before flying in place beside her.

Soundwave played another audio recording, this time it was of different voices, all unfamiliar to her. "Laserbeak… Lead you."

Keira nodded in understanding. "Yeah, ok. Probably not a good idea to keep Starscream waiting. But Soundwave, may I ask you one question?"

She took his silence as a yes.

"Do you know why this is happening to Megatron? And if I'm involved somehow?"

The only response she got was him leaving her quarters.

_All right then_

Keira turned to her guide. "Lead the way, then."

As she followed Laserbeak into the ground bridge, she spotted a brown paper bag to the side.

 _Must be the food Knock Out told me about_.

But before she could stop to satisfy her hunger, she had already entered the ground bridge.

What she saw on the other side surprised her. She had expected something grand, a scene like some adventure movie where the hero had discovered where the ancient relic was hidden. But instead, the room she was standing in seemed like nothing more than a place for storage, with metal boxes filling most of the space. The boxes were a few inches taller than her; then again, they did belong to huge alien robots.

While she looked around, Laserbeak had perched himself – Keira was going to assume the small robot was a he- on one of the boxes, waiting for the human to approach him. And as Keira did so, she noticed that the box Laserbeak was on was different, it seemed to glow more than the others.

She addressed Soundwave's 'pet' as she started climbing the top of the crate. "Ok, move over, I'll try to open this thing."

Laserbeak followed her and started hovering by her shoulder instead.

Luckily for Keira, opening the crate was easy enough, it wasn't any different than opening a 'human' one.

Once she had gotten the top off and pushed it aside, the purple glow became brighter. Inside, Keira saw the source of the light; mysterious crystals. They seemed so mystifying that she thought she'd be hypnotized if she stared too long.

Keira reached her hand in to grab one that was small enough for her to carry. Before she touched it, she hesitated, fearing any consequences. But it didn't last long though, and soon she had one crystal in her hand, and she came out just fine.

Once she had hopped off the box, she turned to face Laserbeak, clutching the Energon close to her. "We better get back to Soun-"

" _Commander Starscream_ " Keira paused and looked around for the voice, recognizing it as Breakdown's.

_An intercom, maybe?_

She heard the second-in-command's voice next. " _What is it, Breakdown? And this better be important._ "

" _Believe me, it is. We've got Autobots incoming._ "


	5. Chapter 5

As red lights started flashing in the room and the grating alarm sound reached Keira's ears, she looked to the only other occupant in the room.

"I don't suppose you'd know what to do in a situation like this?"

And just like his master, Laserbeak remained silent; which only pissed Keira off. But before she tried anything against the metallic avian, Laserbeak hovered even closer to her and started playing an audio recording.

' _That doesn't make any sense._ ' she recognized the voice as Knock Out's. 'Our cloaking system is supposed to be online. How did the Autobots find us?'

It then dawned on Keira that Laserbeak was streaming sound from the med-bay, probably since he was somehow linked to his master.

The next voice she heard belonged to Starscream. ' _We'll figure that out later. Right now, we need this ship on high alert. Knock Out, assemble the troops to the top of the Nemesis and be ready for the Autobots. Soundwave, head to the command center, we'll need a ground bridge when the opportune moment arrives._ '

' _You mean we plan on running?_ '

' _A retreat, dear doctor. And I'm only saving that option as a last resort. The Autobots may have the element of surprise, but we have the numbers. If all goes well, I might even be able to do the one thing Megatron never did._ '

' _Run?_ '

'Retreat _, Knock Out! And no; I meant I would be the one to terminate Optimus Prime._ '

Keira swore she heard someone chuckle.

Starscream scowled. ' _Let's go. We'll have to decide on our master's fate some other time._ '

Laserbeak backed away, signaling the end of the feed. He 'stared' at Keira almost expectantly.

"So while everyone's busy with these Autobots, we can head to the med-bay." she said.

Her companion did nothing but continue hovering.

Keira simply smiled. "Well, lead the way."

Laserbeak flew past her, heading for the door. Keira followed, not daring to take her eyes off of him.

She clutched the dark energon tighter.

_Almost there, big guy._

And as she started moving even faster, not wanting to lose Laserbeak, she was thankful that amidst the chaos, the Vehicons were too busy to notice a human female running around trailing Soundwave's pet.

But she wasn't aware that, lurking in one of the many corridors of the _Nemesis_ , someone did.

* * *

Keira slowed her breathing once she and Laserbeak reached the med-bay. On the way, too focused on Laserbeak, she didn't notice one of the Vehicons moving towards her. She narrowly missed being crushed under his pede.

 _And I don't think I've ever ran that fast before_.

When her breathing returned to normal, she looked around for her guide, who perched himself on top of the monitor Knock Out always paid attention to. The small robot tilted his body towards the Decepticon leader, gesturing for her to get on with it. Keira glanced at the dark energon in her hand before moving.

She had forgotten how high the slab was. She pouted then turned to her companion. "Laserbeak, a little help here?"

Said 'bot then hovered beside the human female, who then grabbed on to him with one hand while still holding the energon in the other. Laserbeak flew upwards and Keira let go once her feet touched Megatron's chest.

But then she paused and realized…

She never asked Soundwave what she actually had to do with the dark energon. She let out a frustrated yell.

"Damn it! Sometimes I can be so-"

' _Spark_ '

Keira froze. "What?"

' _Spark_ '

She looked at Laserbeak, thinking he was the one who had spoken, but the small Decepticon was busy staring at the monitor.

_He can't hear it?_

She tried figuring out whose voice that belonged to, but she couldn't name anyone. The voice seemed so commanding, intimidating, and she had to admit, it was kind of attractive.

Shaking that thought away, she concentrated on what she knew about sparks from what Knock Out told her. She remembered they were almost like what hearts were to humans, but they were more than that, they were the very life force of Cybertronians.

Then she looked at the hole in Megatron's chest, the tube connected to it had been removed. She looked at the energon in her hand, then back to where Megatron's spark chamber would be, if she remembered correctly.

_It's worth a shot_

She moved towards the hole. Once she was close enough, she saw a small flickering light inside. And, holding her breath she raised the dark energon in her hand and-

"Stop!"

Caught red-handed, she did as she was told. Keira turned towards the med-bay doors and saw another robot. But this one was different, with blue optics, and blue coloring. But what really surprised her was that this one looked rather feminine. And judging by her voice, she probably was.

The newcomer raised a servo. "What are you doing?"

"Waking the big guy up."

The look she received from the new 'bot was one of horror and confusion. "But why?"

"Isn't that why I'm here? Knock Out told you why I'm here, right?"

The blue femme crossed her arms. "Why would Knock Out…? Look, that doesn't matter. I'm here to get you out of here. I saw you running and followed you. It's a good thing the Decepticons didn't spot you. You did good by sending us the warship's coordinates."

Keira blinked once, twice. "What? I don't… Wait, you're not a Decepticon? Then you must be an-"

"Autobot, yes. The name's Arcee."

"And you think I'm the one who led you here?"

She shrugged. "We received a coded anonymous message back at our base. It had nothing but coordinates in it. When we found out it was for the location of the _Nemesis_ , we didn't know what to expect. But it must have been you trying to get help, they captured you didn't they?"

Keira was both flustered and annoyed. "Yes, no. I mean, yes I was captured but I wasn't the one who sent the coordinates. Now go away, find whoever did it or something. I'm busy."

Arcee scoffed. "Are you kidding me? There's no way I'm letting you bring Megatron back. In fact, maybe I can end him myself."

Keira's eyes widened, fear suddenly taking over. "No, you can't!"

Arcee's servos changed into blasters. "And why not?"

The human female paused before answering. "You wouldn't understand."

"Look, I don't know what the Decepticons did to brainwash you but you'll thank me for this later." Keira heard Arcee's weapons power up.

With no other options, she shouted, "Laserbeak do something!"

And thankfully, the small Decepticon moved and started firing at Arcee, who then missed her shot and dodged the bird bot's attacks. "Scrap!" Keira heard Arcee shout.

Keira smiled, but remembered her real task and turned back to Megatron, not knowing how long Arcee would be kept distracted.

"Time to wake up, Megatron. You need to kick some Autobot aft."

And she plunged the dark energon into his spark.

To her it was as if time stood still as she backed away and hopped off of the tyrant, waiting for something to happen. She could feel her heart beat faster now, her hands still shaking, the one that had held on to the energon started twitching.

She waited, focusing solely on the Decepticon leader, the sounds of the battle happening behind her and the constant ringing of the alarm fading.

Then his optics went online.

* * *

When Megatron woke up, the first thing he saw was the Autobot femme from Prime's team fire at Laserbeak. And when the warlord stood up, both her and her opponent stopped fighting.

"No." he heard the femme say.

The battle had alerted some of his troops and soon, three Vehicons entered the med-bay.

"What's going- lord Megatron!" one said.

They bowed as soon as they saw their leader standing tall. Laserbeak flew towards him and the tyrant allowed Soundwave's loyal pet to perch on his arm.

"Decepticons, your _rightful_ master has returned."

Their cheers drowned out the sound of the alarm.

He didn't mind the fact that the Autobot femme started fleeing or that his troops were too busy celebrating his awakening to notice her. Before anything else, he had a pest to exterminate. "Where's Starscream?"

"Outside, my liege. Battling the Autobots." one of the Vehicons replied, still kneeling down like the others.

As he looked down at his troops, as if acknowledging them for the first time, he spotted a human female.

A _human_. And the Autobot had left her.

The fleshling stared at him with wide eyes. But it wasn't fear he saw in them, it was something different, something he didn't want to name. The tyrant filed the look the female gave him as shock, for now. There were more important things he needed to attend to then reading human emotions.

He turned to Laserbeak. "Go to your master and tell him of my return." Laserbeak flew away to carry out his task, though Megatron knew that Soundwave would no doubt already be aware of everything that transpired.

"I'll be busy restoring order to the chain of command."

And with that, the Decepticon leader left the med-bay thinking which one of Starscream's limbs would he rip off.

He didn't even stop to question the smile the human gave him.

* * *

Keira stared after Megatron as he left. She hadn't taken her eyes off of him ever since he woke up. As soon as she saw his optics, she was entranced by him. Already, she felt how strong and intimidating the Decepticon leader was. And when he got up off the slab, she felt the whole room shake from his very presence, as if the walls acknowledged and feared his return.

Then she heard his voice. It was familiar to her, but with everything that was happening, she couldn't think of anything other than the being that was standing in front of her. She couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips.

"The human actually did it." a voice snapped Keira out of her thoughts. The smile disappeared, and with Megatron gone to find Starscream, she was left with the Vehicons.

"Yeah, now WX-738021 owes me half of the energon he mined." another one said.

"Wait, he promised me the same thing." Vehicon number three chimed in.

"Scrap, we're just going to have to shoot him and divide the energon between us, then."

"Deal."

That's when Vehicon number one noticed Keira. He tapped Vehicon number two on the shoulder. "What do we do about the human? You know, now that she's done her job?"

Number two shrugged. "How should I know? We kill her probably."

Keira went pale.

"Megatron didn't say to kill her."

This time it was the third Vehicon who spoke. "He didn't say to keep her functioning, either."

Silence passed over the four in the med-bay; silence that was currently keeping Keira alive for the moment.

Then Vehicon number two spoke up. "Well, if the boss didn't say anything, maybe we should-"

"You should leave her alone and get back to work." All four turned to look at the the owner of the voice, it was Breakdown.

The three Vehicons stood up straight as the huge Decepticon continued speaking from his place by the door. "If you haven't noticed, there's an Autobot running around the warship. So get going."

"Yes, sir!" was the collective answer as all three quickly passed by the human female and the big Decepticon.

Once the door shut, Breakdown looked at Keira, who then said, "You're going to kill me, aren't you? Make sure that I don't tell other humans about your presence here by silencing me forever."

Breakdown sighed. "Calm down, human. I'm not here to kill you. I was looking for you; when the attack started, instead of joining the battle outside, Knock Out told me to go look for you, he thought you'd freak out from the noise and do something stupid."

He then looked at the empty slab where his leader no longer was on, then back at the female. "Once again, he was right. But what you did wasn't stupid… Ok, it was; leaving your quarters by yourself, but hey, at least something good came out of it all."

Keira allowed herself to smile. "Yeah, I guess."

"You know where Megatron is now?"

She shrugged. "Probably wherever Starscream is."

"Ah."

Keira nodded. "Yeah."

Silence.

Then, "You did good, you know, for a puny fleshling. Things would've fallen apart if Starscream continued to assume command." Breakdown said.

"Just doing what you guys captured me for."

"Yeah. Well anyway, what's done is done, back to your quarters then." Breakdown was already heading for the door.

Keira tilted her head in confusion. "What about the Autobots? That Arcee could still be here."

Breakdown waved her off. "It'll be over soon, now that Megatron's back and after our dear Air Commander. Starscream's the one leading the assault and if he's gone, the others will follow. And as for Arcee, she leapt off the warship and called for a ground bridge."

"So, those Vehicons you talked to earlier…"

"I needed to get rid of 'em. Now let's go." Breakdown jerked his head, gesturing for her to walk with him, instead of being carried in his servo.

Keira, grateful to be alive longer, followed him.

And as the two walked along the dark hallways of the _Nemesis_ , it was then that they heard a scream.

" _MASTER! NOOO!_ "

Keira shivered at the sound of terror that echoed around. She looked up at Breakdown. "Was that-"

"-Starscream living up to his designation."

* * *

When Megatron left his second-in-command in the med-bay, hooked up to more tubes than he was, he smirked. Order in the ranks was restored, the Autobots knew of his return, and soon everything else would be back to the way it was supposed to be.

But his next trip to the command center would prove that such would not be the case.

The tyrant entered and took his place in the middle of the huge room, scanning the monitors for updates, and anything that he missed in his absence. As always, Soundwave was at his terminal, dutifully monitoring everything and every _one_.

"Good to see you back on your pedes, my liege." Megatron recognized the voice as Knock Out's. With one last look at a report from Soundwave, the former gladiator turned around to face the smaller mech.

"No doubt you've come here to gloat about your success in bringing me back, in the hopes that I would reward you." then he narrowed his optics. "But don't think that I'll allow you to use my dark energon again."

"Well I… oh, beg your pardon, my lord? _Again_? I'm afraid I haven't even seen, let alone touched your supply of dark energon."

Megatron raised an optic ridge subtly, not allowing Knock Out to catch him surprised by this. "Then someone else, perhaps. It was only when dark energon was plunged into my very spark was I able to return. So who is responsible?"

The warlord caught Knock Out glancing at Soundwave, who had paused in his typing to witness the exchange. "Soundwave?" the tyrant asked.

The Decepticon Communications Officer, shook his head, a reply he rarely gave his leader. "It wasn't you, but I'm quite sure you know who it was, nothing escapes you, Soundwave. So who was it?"

There was a pause before Soundwave's visor flickered as Megatron had seen many times before and knew that it was a cue that his loyal officer was about to bring up footage to supply as an answer.

It was then that Megatron saw that it was the human female from before who had plunged a shard of his dark energon into his spark chamber. The warlord watched as the female hopped off his chassis and stepped back, not minding the battle happening far from her.

Then Soundwave stopped the video.

Just like when he was trapped in his own mind, Megatron went over the possible explanations. And now it was to explain why an organic had helped him. Option one, she had done it of her own free will. Two, his troops found someone who knew of Cybertronian anatomy. Three, they brainwashed her to do their bidding. And for all three options, his presumed his Decepticons kidnapped her.

But why had the Autobot femme left her behind?

"What is the girl's purpose here?" Megatron finally asked, turning back to Knock Out.

"Soundwave ordered me to find a human to assist me in repairing you; I chose this once since I've seen the kind of work she's done. I was planning on operating on your very spark chamber, my liege and needed someone small enough to help me with such a delicate procedure."

"And?"

Knock Out shrugged. "And nothing, lord Megatron. We never went through with it, the girl figured out how to bring you back before we even started." Then the medic placed one claw under his chin. "Though how she was able to acquire this information is still a mystery."

Megatron raised an optic ridge. "And where is she now?"

"Breakdown escorted her back to her quarters. I believe she's eating the humans' disgusting excuse for food I supplied her with."

"See to it that she is brought to the command center. I wish to speak with her."

Knock Out nodded, then tapped the side of his head. "Breakdown, our liege wants to speak with the human girl. Bring her to the command center once she's done eating; we wouldn't want her fainting anytime soon."

* * *

It was only when the doors of the command center opened that Megatron tore his attention away from his terminal. With his servos behind his back and his posture straight, the warlord knew how intimidating he looked.

Breakdown entered first, giving a slight bow to his leader then moving to stand beside his partner. And that's when Megatron saw her again.

The human female trailed behind Breakdown, but stopped once she was in front of his leader.

Megatron watched her for any signs of fear, but just like before, he found nothing but her staring at him rather oddly.

He hid his confusion with a smirk. "Ah, there you are. I recognize you from earlier. So, what is the name of the human who has brought me back so I may continue to lead my army?"

Her voice was soft but he still heard her. "Keira Grayson, my liege."

Visions of him being trapped in his own mind suddenly plagued the Decepticon leader. Of him battling Autobots without rest and of a mysterious voice speaking to him, guiding him.

That's when Megatron realized that it was _her_. The one he has spoken to before but never saw. He knew it was her, he recognized the tone, and remembered the name.

And now she on the _Nemesis_ , standing right in front of him. He had found her.

And he would get his answers.


	6. Chapter 6

Powerful, Intimidating, Confident.

Tyrant.

Those were the four words that popped into Keira's mind as she looked into Megatron's optics for the first time since last seeing him in the medbay, when it was she who had brought him back.

And now here she was, on the bridge, staring at him, completely awestruck. She wondered what was on the Decepticon leader's processor as he too continued to stare at her, the look on his face as if scrutinizing her. Keira prevented herself from squirming under the intensity of his gaze.

She didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until the warlord spoke once more.

"My medic has informed of all the work you've done." He said, almost too casually.

Keira thought a nod was the proper response.

"You've performed a great service for the Decepticon cause by bringing me back. And for that, I've decided not to kill you." He tilted his head. "Yet."

She counted herself lucky every second she was still breathing, anyway.

Keira nodded once more. "Thank you." She squeaked out, hoping it wasn't as pathetic as she thought it sounded.

"What would you have us do with her now, Lord Megatron?" Knock Out asked.

Megatron continued to stare her down. "Nothing. Leave us, tend to the wounded. I do still need Starscream functioning."

The medic coughed. "Uhm, my liege?"

"Leave us. I have something to discuss with the one who _actually_ saved my life."

Knock Out's optics narrowed as he glared at Keira. She avoided his eyes, looking at Megatron instead. "Yes, my liege. It'd be nice to see the commander in an even more pathetic state anyway. I'll take pictures."

Once he left and the doors had closed, only Keira, Soundwave, and Megatron were left in the room.

She was getting nervous. The food she had just eaten was threatening to come out. But she didn't think vomiting on the tyrant's feet - er, pedes - was the wisest thing for her to do. And she worked so hard on buffing him too.

"Tell me fleshling, how did you figure out to use Dark Energon in my revival?"

Keira shivered. She had to admit that the Decepticons' voices were all so smooth and silky, even Breakdown's. But Megatron's was different, it was better, actually.

Huskier. Even sexier.

But why was it also so familiar?

She glanced at the other side of the room, at Soundwave, who was busy by his terminal. "Soundwave let me know. Then had one of his pets lead me towards storage to get the Dark Energon, then to you."

Keira swore she was going to strain her neck if she had to keep looking up at him from where she was standing. But there was no way she would ask him to lean closer just because she was uncomfortable.

"And you also knew to plunge it into my spark?" he asked, skeptical.

Keira's body jolted. _Spark_. _Spark_. That's when it registered. That was _his_ voice. _His_ voice that hinted her on what to do. That's why it was familiar.

But how? And why? Is that something she could even tell him? As Megatron continued to stare her down, his patience probably not one to be tested, she made her decision.

"Would you believe I guessed? Knock Out had already been teaching me about Cybertronian anatomy, and what I did to you, it's similar to human open heart surgery, and thankfully it worked out." Keira started to shake, even more nervous now.

"So you are a medical expert, then?"

She actually smiled then. A small smile, but still a smile. "An engineer, but daytime television helps, apparently."

"Then that little stunt of yours was… an accident? You risked my life, on a chance?"

She could actually hear her heart beating faster. "…Yes?"

There was a pause wherein Keira thought she would be experiencing the last few moments of her life, before Megatron growled. "Count yourself lucky it was a success."

Keira stifled her sigh of relief.

The Decepticon leader turned around, his back now to her. Rude. "That's all, fleshling. Report back to Knock Out in the medbay, I assume you know the way from here."

"You're not letting me go?" She knew it was a stupid question, but she was stupid enough to ask it.

To her surprise, the tyrant didn't say anything threatening to her, simply, "This discussion isn't over."

With that, like most of her time with the Decepticons so far, she was left with more questions than answers. As she made to leave the bridge, she couldn't help but wonder if it was wise to withhold information from Megatron, and what exactly the warlord had in store for her.

She also questioned why, as the doors shut behind her, she felt a certain warmth disappear.

* * *

"I'm aware that the Autobots had attacked us moments before my return." Megatron said as he approached his spymaster by his terminal.

Soundwave continued to stare at his monitor, typing non-stop.

"We're airborne, there's no possible way they could have invaded if they didn't have the precise coordinates to the ship. Someone gave it to them." He snarled the last sentence.

"…but the incident served as a distraction and allowed the human to bring me back without alerting Starscream, who no doubt wouldn't have allowed such a procedure to go through."

A pause.

"Thank you."

Soundwave glanced at his leader and nodded before focusing on his terminal once more.

As Megatron moved to walk away, something was still bothering him. And it bothered him that he was bothered. He had thought that talking to the human female would help, but she seemed to be even more clueless than he was.

But he wasn't through with her. It was just that there were other more important things he should concern himself with, like catching up with whatever he had missed while out of commission.

But a bother would soon become a distraction. He had no need for distractions. Especially one involving a human.

With a sigh, Megatron turned back to the quiet Decepticon. If there was anyone he could trust on his ship, it was Soundwave. Plus, it was Soundwave who trusted the human enough with his life.

"Soundwave, while I was… incapacitated, I had dreams. Dreams of a Cybertron where Decepticons ruled and Optimus was at my mercy, over and over and over again." He smiled, remembering how glorious it all was, his blade slicing through –

Megatron shook his head. Imagining Optimus' misery could wait.

"But I also heard a voice. It asked me questions, guided me to figuring out that I was simply dreaming, and to learning who was responsible for it."

His claws twitched. "It was _her_ voice. The human's."

Soundwave continued to type.

"At first it seemed to be nothing but that, a voice. A spirit guiding me back. But then I heard the human just now, and there's no denying that it was the same voice. So why?"

 _Why her voice? Why did you trust her? Why did she bring me back? Why_ her _?_

Soundwave's digits slowed down their movement, and he pointed to the monitor. Megatron's optics followed.

Each line he read made him twitch. He felt like firing his fusion cannon at Starscream _and_ Optimus.

When Megatron was done reading, he looked at the floor, then at his most loyal follower. "Are… are you certain?"

Soundwave stared at him, the tyrant seeing his reflection in the other's visor. It was then that he remembered one of the few things a Decepticon should believe.

Soundwave was never wrong.

* * *

Keira heard a snarl as the doors to the medbay opened in front of her. And she jumped to the side when someone stepped out.

She looked up and saw Starscream, clutching his side. He was covered in scratches and his, as Knock Out would say, finish, wasn't as shiny, not with all the fresh scorch marks. Keira also noted the scars crisscrossing his body and shuddered to think that Megatron was responsible for all that.

Thankfully, the Decepticon second-in-command was too busy writhing in pain and grumbling to himself to notice her and continued on his way, allowing Keira to enter the medbay peacefully.

Knock Out was on his terminal as usual, with a hologram of Starscream's chassis being displayed.

She might as well get his attention. "Hey Knock Out. Megatron told me to report to-"

"You're extremely lucky that I don't kill you where you stand." He said coldly, his back still to her.

Keira rolled her eyes. She was tired and if she had a dollar for every threat she'd been given while on the ship... "Yes, I'm aware of my good fortune. You're not the first to tell me."

Knock Out turned around and leaned in closer to her, transforming one of his arms into a buzz saw. She leaped back in shock. "I mean it, human. You embarrassed me in front of Lord Megatron and ruined my chances at getting a promotion."

Oh right, she had forgotten about his deal with Starscream. She smiled sheepishly, "Uhm, I'm sorry?"

Knock Out brought his buzzsaw closer to her and Keira could feel the sparks from it stinging her skin. She immediately took another step backwards.

The medic sighed and retracted the blade back into his regular arm.

"But, you also indirectly managed to stop the Autobots. We all saw how everything went in the short time Starscream was in command of that attack. So, and listen very carefully because I'm never saying it again, good work." He gave her what she thought was a genuine smile, which disappeared just as quickly as it came.

He stood at his full height. "I'd stay clear of Starscream for a while, however. I doubt he'd be as forgiving."

Keira gulped. "Yeah, noted, thanks."

Knock Out leaned back onto a wall and crossed his arms. "I'm curious though, how'd you know to plunge Dark Energon into Lord Megatron's spark? I myself would've injected him with a dose into his fuel lines."

Keira bit her lip. Knock Out wasn't exactly a friend, more like he was one of the three least likely to kill her on sight, the other two being Breakdown and Soundwave.

Or at least she hoped. And that was enough for her to trust him, that, and maybe he could help her. What happened to her with Megatron continued to annoy her and if she didn't tell someone soon, she'd probably end up as messed up as Starscream.

"Knock Out, would you believe me if I told you I heard a voice?"

He rolled his optics. "I do hope whatever you say next will make more sense."

"I heard a voice while I was thinking about what to do with the Dark Energon. It, I don't know, it guided me, led me to Megatron's spark."

Knock Out sighed. "Ok and why would this mysterious voice help you out?"

"It was _Megatron's_ voice. I'm sure of it, and now you might think I'm crazy but y-" she stopped when she noticed Knock Out's optics grow wider.

He looked at her, stunned. "Megatron's voice?"

Keira perked up, maybe he really did know what happened. "Yes, why? Do you know what it means?"

He narrowed his optics, as if deep in thought, before focusing on her again. "I have, well, there are theories, but I'd like to look into it more before I say anything else."

She frowned. "Oh." Why was everyone on the ship so secretive and cryptic?

"In the meantime," He pushed himself away from the wall. "How'd you like to go racing with me?"

Now it was her turn to look stunned. "Me? Go with you?"

He shrugged. "Breakdown's busy doing something for the big M and it's always better to have someone there when I win for bragging purposes."

He grinned before adding, "Plus I bet the humans hanging around the races know you. If you show up to one now, then you're technically not missing, right? Less suspicion."

As far as she knew, her uncle was still out of town and she wasn't close enough to anyone in town for them to start thinking something had happened to her. But it was still a tempting offer. She did want to see something other than the dark walls of the ship and hear the roars of engines instead of the constant beeping of computers.

And a Decepticon was actually being nice to her. How could she pass that up?

Keira smiled up at him. "Sure, I guess that makes sense."

"Of course it does. Now, get on my servo and don't make a sound."

"Why?"

"We're sneaking out. Don't you think noise would be counter-productive?"


End file.
